BOLOGNA (Italy) - There were some incredible individual performances from a wealth of different players as the curtain was raised at this year's edition of FIBA Women's EuroBasket in Bologna and Piraeus.
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It was a bittersweet day for Jessica Shepard as she posted a majestic FIBA Women's EuroBasket debut to post the highest performance efficiency of the day at 36, but Slovenia were beaten 77-71 by Lithuania. She could hardly have done more to inspire victory for her team, adding a brilliant double-double of 25 points and 18 rebounds.
One of the reasons for her disappointment was the work of teenage talent Juste Jocyte who set Lithuania on their way to success and a first win in a decade, having not featured since 2015 in the competition. The guard showed her quality and composure to collect 17 points, 6 assists and 2 blocks.
Also in Bologna, Cecilia Zandalasini did what she does best as she put her name up in lights with an exceptional showing in Italy's 70-61 win against Serbia. Her excellent performance efficiency valuation of 28 came from a double-double of 20 points and 11 boards - as well as handing out 4 assists.
France left it late against Türkiye but pulled out what could prove to be a vital 71-69 triumph; fuelled in a big way by the contribution of Janelle Salaun. The forward found the hot hand early and recorded her best ever score in the competition with 22 points - also pulling down 4 rebounds.
Last but not least, almost 7,000 fans inside the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus enjoyed seeing Mariella Fasoula of Greece put Switzerland to the sword, 87-65. The center was unstoppable at times and stepped off court having harvested 21 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
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